Transcript Racism in the Virtual World - Georgetown Digital Commons

Dina Duella * Andrew Lander * Sara Lichterman
Katerina Matsa * Chirag Patel* Ming Zhao
Agenda
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Introduction * Katerina
Disciplines – Why? Questions? * Sara
Research Questions and Gaps * Andrew
Methods *Claire
Research Plan and Conclusion * Chirag
Racism
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The belief that all members of each race possess
characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that
race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or
superior to another race or races. Hence: prejudice
and antagonism towards people of other races, esp.
those felt to be a threat to one's cultural or racial
integrity or economic well-being; the expression of
such prejudice in words or actions. (Oxford English
Dictionary)
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Racism is on the net:
 Blogs
 Games
 Social Networking Sites
 Chat rooms
 Websites
 Virtual Worlds
What discipline should we view this
problem through?
SOCIOLOGY?
COMMUNICATION?
SOCIOLOGY
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Social norms are replicated in online
communities => use sociological principles
to study online communities.
Problem: minority access on the internet
=> “digital divide”.
In cyberspace, “The grand narrative of
hierarchy is seriously challenged. It is
impossible to do hierarchy in
cyberspace…The net is patriarchal to the
extent that the machines have been
dominated by pale males.” (Myburgh,
1997-98: p.22-23)
COMMUNICATION
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Lack of visual cues (body
language, facial
expressions)
 Chat room communication
 Blogs
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Media Richness
SOCIOLOGY
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How do individual behaviors
affect society?
What are the social structures
and hierarchies in society?
How do people organize into
groups and construct
communities around identities
such as race or gender?
COMMUNICATION
 How important is the medium
to the construction of
meaning, and how do people
make and transmit meaning?
 What are the semantic
implications of conveying
messages without face-toface contact?
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Castranova’s comment
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John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fu*wad Theory
 Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = Total Fu*wad
Our research questions
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What alternative cues exist in the virtual world that
are not reflected in the physical world?
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How do online communications in the virtual world
affect racism in the physical world?
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Is racism in the virtual world a mere reflection of the
racism in the physical world?
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Sociology
Critical Approach:
How access creates
power dynamics
and hierarchies
(Gorski)
Goal of Research: Expose
alienation and power structures
within society so as to work
towards social change
Axiology: Reason for research is
value…for social change..values
should be an integral part of
project selection, study, and
dissemination
(Turner, Lecture Notes: 09/16)
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Communication
Social Information
Processing Theory
(SIP)
 Alternative cues
online
 Interpersonal
•Create a virtual world, pooled from a
diverse college community
•Initial questionnaire to gather
demographics of participants
•Avatars are linked to participants by
number
•Introduce provocative avatars and
scenarios
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Experiment
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Qualitative Analysis: Interviews